Notes on the Geography of Peninsular India: Pune

Pune (Poona during the British period) has had several lives. It was for a time the home of Shivaji and later the seat of the Peshwas, or Maratha leaders. During the British period, it was (as it remains today) a military center. Recently, it has become a major industrial and high-tech center.

Government House, during the monsoon the residence of the British Governor of Bombay. In the early 1950s it was put to a new use as the home of the then-new Poona University. At the time the photo was taken in 2008, it was being restored.

Rear view.

Vice-chancellor's lodge, a classic British-era home.

A classic of a different sort, a university information office that politely asks to be left alone.

Another Pune educational center, the College of Engineering.

The interior of the main hall is very grand.

A cathedral of learning.

Theodore Cooke, M.A., principal from 1865 to 1893.

Perhaps in the internet age an old-fashioned library is less essential than it once was.

Campus relaxation.

Another college, that of Nowrosjee Wadia.

"Sitting an exam."

The city's Sassoon Hospital.

Tower of the hospital.

The Sassoon family originated in Iraq but became prominent elsewhere in Asia, including China.

A trilingual plaque. Henry Wilkins, who attained the rank of general, was an architect on the side. Among other projects, he renovated the famous Aden tanks, q.v. under Yemen.

A recycled British government guest house.

Post office.

The remarkably churchlike synagogue, another Wilkins production.

Tower clock, made by John Bennett, Cheapside, London.

Sassoon's tomb on the synagogue grounds were also designed by Wilkins.

St. Mary's Church, in the cantonment area.

Interior.

An unusual last name and perhaps related to the Cecil Le Mesurier who worked in the Ceylon Civil Service and established the village there known as Lemesuriergama.

Monument with tarboosh or fez.

Monument with truncated palm.

Tablet to a junior officer on the Great Trigonometrical Survey.

A metaphor gone wrong.

A popular spot, the Empress Botanical Garden.

Queen's Garden.

A new shopping center.

High-rise suburb with a farfetched name.

The location adjoins a major highway.

The same road, running south to Bangalore.

One of many car dealerships along the highway.

Farther north, the road drops down to the coast.

The section of the highway between Pune and Bombay is about the most modern one in India.

Along its entire length there seem to be no bullock carts or loose animals.

Back near Pune, an office building has sprouted in the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, adjoining the village of Chinchwad.